The Death, The Strawberry, and The Deathberries
by LovelyFarron
Summary: A loose collection of stories following the adventures of everyone's favorite sword swinging Berry, dancing Peach, and their little fruits.


Manga/anime: Bleach

Pairing: Ichigo/Rukia

Genre: Romance/Humor

Rating: T

A/N: My series "The Growing Family of Kurosaki Ichigo" seemed to be quite popular, so I'm back with more. Same IchiRuki kids, better writing, and updated character backgrounds (taking into account recent Bleach chapters; you might not want to read on if you haven't been keeping up). Also, I have paired Orihime up with Ulquiorra in this and they have two children, as opposed to my other fanfiction in which the Orihime pairing was IshiHime (I love Uryu still; I constantly flip flop between UlquiHime and IshiHime).

I will still be continuing "Tales of the Living and the Living Dead" but this is focused specifically on IchiRuki kids and the future of the Bleachverse.

This may contain SPOILERS.

Summary: A loose collection of stories following the adventures of everyone's favorite sword swinging Berry, dancing Peach, and their little fruits.

The Death, The Strawberry, and The Deathberries

~1~

The First Fruit

"Ichigo, I'm pregnant."

Ichigo Kurosaki paused, his pen poised above the document he had been scribbling furiously on. If there was one thing the young man hated, it was paperwork. In school he had always dreaded homework but been forced to complete it anyway, not by his father—who had never batted an eyelash at his grades or concerned himself with them—but by his innate desire to do well and prove to his teachers that he was not the delinquent punk that they believed he was.

He had been told by Shinji Hirako that being a Captain was all fighting and long boring meetings and was rather irritated with the piano toothed man for not telling him that it also involved filling out mountains of paperwork. Not that it would have scared him away or anything, but knowing what he was signing up for before jumping in head first would have been nice.

He had only started his Captain duties recently, within the past four months. He had been approached with the offer to become part of the Soul Society's Companies before graduation from high school, but had decided to not take up the offer until he'd completed college. He had known that he was young and while he had been positive that the life of a shinigami was the life he wanted for himself, he had gone to a university to explore all the options available to him. No matter what he'd studied though, his heart had always led him back to the idea of being an official agent of the shinigami and had finally agreed to take the job. Of course, being engaged to Rukia Kuchiki had been a good incentive for him to finally get his rear in gear and his ducks all in a row, so to speak.

"What?" the orange-haired man asked stupidly, blinking and looking at his wife. Oh, he had heard her, he just couldn't believe it. Rukia? Pregnant? _Now? _They had been married…what? Five months? Was it even possible for her to get pregnant so fast? Ok, so it was a dumb question—and one he was glad that he hadn't voiced out loud—because even he knew that it only took once to create a baby and they had done the act that would lead to the creation of a baby well over the mark of once.

Rukia Kuchiki-Kurosaki raised an eyebrow at her husband's blank stare, not amused. "Is your hearing already starting to go?" she questioned, folding her arms across her chest. "I said, 'I'm pregnant,' fool."

Ichigo's mouth fell open as shock rippled through him, numbing his brain as it finally hit home. Rukia. Was. Pregnant.

"Are you positive?" he asked before he could stop himself. Sure, they had talked a little about having kids back when they were getting serious, and they both wanted them, but…now? "Like super sure?"

"Yes, Ichigo, I'm 'super sure,'" Rukia responded dryly. "Just ask the twenty pregnancy tests I took."

Of course he couldn't really _ask _an inanimate object, but the meaning behind her words was not lost on him. She was definitely, 100%, positively, absolutely pregnant.

Panic hit him next, the realization fully dawning on him, and he sucked in a sharp breath. He was going to be a father? Rukia was carrying his child? His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat, his hand tightening its grip on the pen as several emotions stampeded through him at once and made him dizzy. Was he ready? Could he really raise another human being?

"I know, I'm surprised too," she said, walking over to where her husband sat. She was no longer irritated with him, letting her own insecurities poke through her armor as her hands twisted together nervously. "And a little worried, but…" She let out a breath, closing her eyes. "…there's no doubt about it. In six months I'll be popping out a little you."

"But…how? When?" he croaked out.

_A little you._

_A little him._

"'_How'_? Of all the things you could ask you ask, _how_?" Rukia snorted, her ire rising again. "I'm pretty sure we've covered the _how _extensively, as for the when…you went to college. Do the math."

The young Captain bit his lip, his mind flying back in time. Under normal circumstances he'd be firing off some short verbal retort, but he had just discovered that his life was changing yet again, and this time in the biggest way imaginable. She had said she was going to be popping out a little him in six months, so she had gotten pregnant at—

"Oh," he said, a blush touching his cheeks. "_Oh._"

Rukia cleared her throat, her own face going a bit red. Despite being married, the two were still a bit shy when it came to things that married couples did in the bedroom. They were both very private people, rarely opening up to others, and while they could discuss things freely with each other, intimacy was something new and still a bit awkward for the both of them. It was a learning process, and while it felt so right in the heat of the moment, such thoughts were not welcomed out in public for several reasons, one being that they would have to resist the urge to run off to their modest little home—located conveniently (or inconveniently in Ichigo's case) inside the Kuchiki grounds.

"Y-yes, anyway…" Rukia continued, her words nearly tripping over each other as she forced them out of her mouth. "I'm pregnant and expecting in six months. Ichigo…I'm…" She paused, her mouth open as she considered her next words. Her striking violet eyes darted to his cool amber and there was something almost apologetic in them that made his heart twist painfully inside his chest. "…scared."

Of all the things he had been expecting her to say, that had not been one of them. He blinked in surprise. Had Rukia just said she was…scared?

"Rukia…"

"I know, I'm stupid," she said quickly, flustered and ashamed. "It's stupid. I want this, it's just…" She sighed heavily. "I…never had a mother growing up, or a father. I don't know how to be a parent and I'm afraid I'll…I mean, what if I…what if I screw them up?" She looked away from him, resting one hand on her still flat stomach. "I mean…am I really qualified? Fighting hollows is one thing, raising a child is something else entirely. I'm not sure I can do it…"

Ichigo's brow drew together in concern. He hated seeing her so upset.

"Rukia…"

Setting down his pen, he stood up and walked over to where she stood. She glanced back up at him, fear screaming at him through the windows into her soul.

He didn't blame her in the slightest for being scared nor did he think any less of her. Her fears were completely understandable for he shared them as well. They were walking into unknown territory, a place neither one of them had gone. Sure, Ichigo had his sisters and Rukia had taken care of Homura and Shizuku in her younger years, but having your own child was something completely different. His own mother had died so he couldn't really coach her, and his father was not what he considered an ideal role model…

_But we're together. That's all that matters. Neither one of us will be going through this alone. This child will be loved._

"Hey," he said gently, hunching down so that he was at eye level with her. "Hey, it's ok. You're going to be an amazing mother, you know that."

It was simple, what he had said, but it was the truth. He wanted to soothe her and chase away her doubts, to speak with confidence and bravado, but words had never been the way they communicated; it was simply not their nature to state what was in their soul, but rather let it flow out through their actions, their subtle gestures and body movements.

Rukia pursed her lips, eyebrows scrunching together as she read his emotions. There was no one that knew him better than her and there was no one that knew her better than him. If either one ever got the inclination to cheat on the other—and that would never happen because they were Soul Mates in every sense of the phrase—the other would know instantly. It weirded people out how in tuned they were with each other; it was a bond that defied understanding.

After a minute, Rukia let out another breath and closed her eyes, leaning forward so her forehead was against Ichigo's. His hands found their way to her stomach, covering her tiny ones and pressing lightly against her. The child inside her was too small to make any noticeable movement, but there was something there; he could _feel _it.

His breath was stolen away as he pushed all distractions out of his mind, something he had gotten quite good at doing, and focused on the tiny being growing inside his wife, the thing that was half him and half her. It was strong even though it was small, and a peace settled over the couple as they both drank in each other's presence and their child's. It was magical. For two that had seen so much death, so much sorrow, so much tragedy, so much horror…there was so much for them to be afraid of. Yet they found comfort in each other as they always had, that ethereal bond of theirs linking them together and holding them steadfast in the storm. It was unbreakable, even more so now.

"And you're going to be a great father," she said softly after some time had passed. "So there is no need for you to worry either."

Her voice ended the moment, she being the rational one and realizing that while it was a special time for the two of them, there was still work to be done.

A small smile pulled at his lips and he couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Damn. That obvious I was a bit freaked too?"

Rukia laughed and shook her head, opening her eyes and drawing back from him. "Of course not. I just know how to look at you. Or in you. Through you."

"You can say that again."

"Hey watch it now," the petite shinigami grumped, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. "Be nice to the mother of your child."

"And so it begins," he moaned, standing back up to his full height and stretching. "Shit Rukia, you sure picked a nice time to get pregnant. What, with the Shiba Restoration in progress and all." He grinned down at her, his tone jocular and light.

Rukia narrowed her eyes angrily, her face going a crimson shade. "Hey! Don't just blame me! It takes two to tango you fool! I didn't get this way by myself!"

"No, but if I recall correctly, _you _were the one that couldn't wait until we got home and just _had _to get it then and there," he said smugly, making his way over to his desk where the stacks upon stacks of paper still waited. Inside he was singing with joy now that his fears were gone.

Maybe it would seem ridiculous to an outsider that such a simple confrontation could calm him, that barely any words could tame his concerns, but that was how it was with the two of them. Of course, there would be times over the next several months when things would come back to haunt the both of them, but as long as they were in it together, it would all be alright. They'd gone to hell—literally—and come out alive. They could do this, they could figure out how to raise a child together.

"Now wait a second!" Rukia yelled. "That is NOT how I remember it going down!"

"Really? So I'm the one that was the horny bastard?" Ichigo asked, eyebrow twitching, his hand already going to pick up his pen.

"Aren't you always?"

"Now wait a minute—"

And just like that, the worry and fright of Rukia's pregnancy melted away, all but forgotten as the two fell back into their old habits, albeit with a new sense of joy and excitement. They still had things to discuss, namely breaking the news to their friends and family, but for the moment just having the news between the two of them was enough. Besides, they had to figure out just who exactly was to blame for the little adventure that had led to the conception.

A/N: I listened to that one song while writing this that played at the ending of Bleach when Rukia was reflecting back on her time spent with Ichigo. Stupid song name didn't copy correctly to my iPod and I can't remember it ;_;


End file.
